Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Quick and the Good

Doing it right is better than doing it fast.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Graceful Degradation

Graceful degradation - the ability of your product to function reasonably well when presented under less than optimal conditions - should be on your mind with everything you design.

Try to avoid it in marketing efforts, job interviews, and internal staff evaluations.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Too Much or Not Enough

Most of the time, we are either told too much -- so we have to clear away the fluff to get at the real information -- or not enough, so that we have to connect the dots. Either way, we're not getting a true picture of the issue.

We have to train ourselves to peer through the fluff that covers the real thing, and to perceive the shape of the matter at hand based on the unconnected dots. And we have to do it fast -- so the client / partner / whatever is still right there, the discussion still hot on their tongues, and we can say, "wait a sec -- "

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Axis of Incompetence

When your client doesn't understand the product they've hired you to design - yet still wants to micromanage - and your management is too lazy or too frightened to set and enforce rational boundaries -- you are dealing with an axis of incompetence. Exit with as much dignity as you can.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Meetings

For some of us, the body language, tone of voice, and social dynamics of a traditional meeting provide context to the discussion. For others, these things are noise and distractions. Which describes you?

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Back and Forth

Sometimes you have to back up to move forward.